1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hanging device for a hanging conveyor. It relates more particularly to a hanging device for a hanging conveyor for receiving the hook of a clothes hanger, the device being openable in order to release or eject the clothes hanger, and having a body and a flap which is fastened to the body for pivoting around an axis extending at right angles to the direction of transport, the hook of the clothes hanger during transport lying on a bevel formed on the body and resting against the flap which during transport remains closed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such a hanging device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,998 and Federal Republic of Germany Cl 39 09 002. A large number of such hanging devices are fastened to the drive chain of the hanging conveyor and serve, for instance, to receive the hook of a clothes hanger in order to transport the article of clothing hanging on it to a given destination, for example for storage or to be worked upon.
Ordinarily the hanging devices pass along a loading station which is arranged beside the conveyor path, and one hanger at a time is automatically transferred to a hanging device at the loading station. At the intended destination of the article of clothing, each hanging device is opened and the hanger is ejected or otherwise transferred out of the hanging device.
In order to introduce articles of clothing into a circular conveyor, the articles must already be in the proper transfer position before the hanging device arrives at the loading station where they are to be picked up. The clothes hanger and the hanging device can be combined only at a given moment. Dependable loading is possible only from the front, referred to the direction of travel, of the hanging device. It follows from this that the clothes hanger must be catapulted with high speed into the waiting position and it must also be kept from colliding with goods already traveling in the hanging conveyor.
Since introduction is possible only within a very short period of time, despite the fact that each hanger is in a parking position in front of the hanging device corresponding to it, it is necessary for the hanger to be accelerated to a considerably greater speed than the speed of the conveyor chain, and then abruptly braked. The strong acceleration leads to wear of the loading station, to the hanger jumping out of the hanging device, or to the article of clothing falling off the hanger.
Furthermore, the known hanging device is closed on one side parallel to the direction of transport, so that the clothes hangers can be loaded only from one side.